Agere, ARM to develop RISC-based platform for handset applications

CAMBRIDGE, England -- ARM Holdings plc here today announced several agreements, including a joint development pact with Agere Systems Inc. to create a reusable microprocessor-based platform for the wireless systems market.

ARM and Agere (formerly Lucent Microelectronics) said they plan to develop communications ICs, based on a new platform initially targeted at advanced multimedia applications for wireless handsets and other wireless devices. The platform will be based on ARM's 920T processor core, using ARM's Multi-layer Advanced High-performance bus (AHB) and PrimeCell peripherals.

Agere's semiconductor technologies produce the platforms for applications that run a variety of operating systems, including Microsoft's Windows CE, Palm OS, and Symbian OS, said the two companies.

Separately today, Cambridge-based ARM also announced a photomask design agreement with Hoya Corp. in Japan, which will offer development services for 16- and 32-bit RISC processor solutions. ARM said it has also licensed the ARM922T core to ZTEIC in China, a joint venture between ZTE Corp. and a government investment organization in Shenzhen.

ZTEIC will use the ARM processor core to serve network applications in China and Asia. Under the photomask design agreement, Japan's Hoya will provide a range of mask specification and generation services for system-on-chip designs. Details about the terms of these two agreements were not released.

Meanwhile, Agere and ARM said they plan to develop flexible platforms for wireless handsets, enabling designers to accelerate the use of IP building blocks. "The manufacturers will also gain the flexibility to focus on adding differentiating, value-added features to their products byusing a flexible, open architecture that is used with several different operating systems," said Mike Laflin, strategic marketing manager Allentown, Pa.-based Agere Systems.